First Road Trip of 2016

We have great friends that have an awesome camp on Long Pond in Parsonsfield, Maine.  We were lucky enough to get an invite for this past weekend.  Long Pond is a wonderful place for our little boat but, alas, the ice is not out yet on Long Pond, so the Merry Rowe II remained in winter hibernation for this, our first New England road trip of 2016.

When we do take the boat to Long Pond we put in from the camp but there is a public launch on the southeast end of the pond on the Road Between the Ponds (yes, that's the name of the street).  During the season you can expect to have a "courtesy" inspection of your boat to ensure you are not dragging invasive species into this unspoiled pond.

We spent Friday night putting together a lentil soup* from a new found recipe and attempting to copy an awesome spinach salad** from a great local restaurant called Station 19.   We took off on the early side Saturday morning with a bit of a detour in mind for the ride up.  The first mate had spied a couple interesting tidbits on Craigslist to explore so our first stop was Portland, Maine.

Our first stop was Captain Jim's Marine Salvage and Nautical Antiquities.   Wow!  What a cool place. Beyond the little Cape Dory for sale in the front lot (SOLD the next day I hear) this place seemed to have a bit of whatever it is you might need to repair, restore, replace, or renew on the boat.  Cushions, companionway stairs, a sink for the head, turnbuckles, cleats, electrical equipment - there appeared to be at least one of everything.  The pictures do it justice and Captain Jim was a pleasure to meet. We highly recommend stopping in whether you are looking for a particular something or not.

Pullys

Fenders

Swim Ladders

Lines Galore

This and That

Captain Jims Marine Salvage and Nautical Antiquities

PFDs

The second of our interests on this little detour to Portland was a Valiant 32 that is apparently in need of another part-owner.  She is on the hard at Maine Yacht Center and we stopped in there to see if the first mate could check her out.  There was not much to see as the boat was out of the water and shrink wrapped but it was worth driving down to the water on this side of town as we had never been there before.  It was a gorgeous day and we got a great perspective of the Eastern Promenade.  We were amazed that we had never noticed this marina before from our previous visits to the Promenade.

Slips at Maine Yacht Center

Having checked out these two cool places and toured the surrounding neighborhoods for possible places to put the boat in this season (we found none:(), we headed off to Long Pond which is a bit over an hour from Portland IF you put the correct name of the street in your GPS.  Otherwise, it will take a bit longer.  Just sayin'.

We had a great couple of days with our friends testing out this new-to-me vodka called Deep Eddy Lemon (really tasty with soda water), hiking around the lake and looking forward to the summer ahead!

Hike Around Long Pond

New Vodka

*Winter Lentil Soup (tweaked)
This recipe was in the Hippo March 3-9, 2016. Page 42.

• 28 oz can of whole tomatoes 
• 2 sweet potatoes peeled and chopped
• 4 leeks chopped into half inch moons
• 1/2 head kale torn into pieces
• 1/2 cup brown lentils (we used 1 cup)
• 1 sauteed onion (our addition)
• 1/4 cup prepared pasta sauce (our addition - we used Pastene)
• 1/4 cup vegetable broth (our addition)

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat.  Add the leeks and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften.  Add the tomatoes and cook, breaking them up with a spoon, for about 5 minutes.  Add six cups water and bring to a boil.  Stir in the sweet potatoes, kale, lentils and thyme, 1.5 tsp salt and .25 tsp pepper.  Simmer until lentils are tender.  Add pasta sauce and vegetable broth and heat to an acceptable temperature.

**Spinach Salad

• Fresh spinach
• Crumbled Gorganzola
• Candied Walnuts
• Fresh Raspberries
• Fresh Blueberries
• Balsamic Vinaigrette 

Put first 5 ingredients in a bowl.  Add vinaigrette right before serving.